St. Edward not ready for sun to set on season
The St. Edward football team drilled on Greg True Field until daylight faded around 5 p.m. on Friday.
Getting practices in before the November sun sets is a new problem for the Green Wave, who have advanced to the second round of the playoffs for only the second time.
"It's nice to worry about it getting dark early and all these other problems I didn't know existed," coach Mike Rolando said.
To keep the learning experiences coming - like practicing in next week's predicted cold snap - No. 2 St. Edward (10-0) must defeat No. 7 Coal City (8-2) in Elgin on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The respective offenses of the Coalers and Green Wave are near mirror images. Well, funhouse mirror, anyway. The Coal City line features three players larger than anyone on the St. Edward roster: Matt Long (6-foot-5, 285 pounds), Andrew Mathena (6-5, 275) and L.J. Lightner (6-4, 260).
"They are not just big, they are giants," Rolando said. "They are significantly bigger at a few positions, but most of the others are just like us. They are big, but our D-line will have a quickness advantage."
Coal City's big linemen blaze a trail for senior Jack Dibble, a 5-10, 180-pound running back. Dibble's 1,941 yards and 25 touchdowns, 24 rushing, are a testament to his resilience. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in one knee as a sophomore. He reclaimed his spot in the lineup the following season only to tear the ACL in his other knee in Week 1.
"He's really battled back," Coal City coach Lenny Onsen said. "He's the kind of young man you want to root for."
Dibble and Co., will face a St. Edward defense that was similarly undersized against playoff teams Riverside-Brookfield and Rock Island yet yielded only 19 points combined. Rolando said St. Edward will be without defensive end Josh Von Rohr and his team-high 13 sacks due to an injury suffered in the playoff opener. Junior Nathan Witt gets the start in his place.
The Green Wave defense limits opponents to 9.6 points per game, led by linemen Jake French (70 tackles, 11 sacks), inside linebackers Jack Tierney (67 tackles, 3 sacks) and Chris Kelly (54 tackles, 2 sacks) and secondary men Saveon Smith (14 passes broken up, Int.), Bryan O'Neill (8 PBU, 2 Ints.), Devin Warner (8 PBU) and Allen (2 Ints.).
St. Edward's offense features junior running back Dwayne Allen, Jr. A fluid ball carrier able to cut at high speed, Allen rushed for 3 long touchdowns and nearly 300 yards last week in a 31-12 win against Alleman. He has collected 1,547 yards and 18 touchdowns in 180 attempts (8.6 avg.).
The Coalers aspire to run the ball 60 percent of the time but of late have run it closer to 70 percent, according to Onsen. Quarterback Nick Micetich has thrown for a bit over 600 yards.
The Green Wave strike a balance between rushing yards (2,229) and passing (1,696). Senior quarterback Joe Mullen has completed 91 of 168 attempts (54.1 percent) for 1,593 yards and 26 touchdowns. He has been intercepted 8 times.
"They have a lot of speed," Onsen said. "(Allen) runs extremely well and if you try to take that away, they can throw the ball. They execute really well and mix things up. It's going to be a challenge."
A win would thrust the Green Wave into unchartered territory. No St. Edward football team has reached a state quarterfinal. This team hopes to do so while drawing some motivation from message board chatter predicting their demise.
"We're still not getting a lot of respect," Rolando said. "People say Alleman was just a 5-5 team, and they are picking us to lose this game. That's fine. Being a 10-0 underdog is an interesting position to be in. It's just more motivation.
"The kids are excited. If they do what they did last week, if they follow the same recipe for success from when they handled a bigger team like Alleman, we'll be winners."